Speaker 1: My Billy Cunningham, the Great America. Welcome this Monday, Afterearon in
Speaker 1: the Tri State temperashire close to fifty degrees today. Last
Speaker 1: week of golf o was terrible, but good news has
Speaker 1: come from Raveke Ramaswami. He's announcing sometime later this afternoon
Speaker 1: that he's going to be a candidate for governor in
Speaker 1: state of Ohio. And I've watched him do many national
Speaker 1: interviews in which he says, well, I have a big
Speaker 1: announcement on the twenty fourth of February. The twenty fourth
Speaker 1: of February is here. And Vivake Ramaswami, Springfield Township resident
Speaker 1: for many years and graduate of Sandex High School, Welcome
Speaker 1: to the Bill Cunningham Show. And Viveke, what is your
Speaker 1: announcement this Monday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Look, I'll be announcing later today that I'm running to be.
Speaker 3: The next governor of Ohio. Billy in Ohio.
Speaker 2: I live in Columbus now it's where we raise our
Speaker 2: two sons. I'm excited to pass the American dream on
Speaker 2: to the next generation. And President Trump he's making our
Speaker 2: country great and reviving our confidence in a America.
Speaker 4: I'm going to be reviving our confidence in Ohio, and
Speaker 4: I think that's the kind of governor we need.
Speaker 5: You know, at this point, many have said, what about Doge.
Speaker 1: You and Elon musk are launched it, and you left
Speaker 1: Washington to come back to Ohio to run for governor.
Speaker 1: Does Ohio need a Doge type examination of its budget?
Speaker 4: Absolutely needs efficiency at every level. I'm proud and was
Speaker 4: honored to help get DOJE off the ground for those
Speaker 4: first two months. And what became clear to Elon and
Speaker 4: myself and President Trump is that a lot of the
Speaker 4: programs that sit at the federal level are going to
Speaker 4: be kicked down to the states and to the people,
Speaker 4: from education to healthcare. And what we need is governors
Speaker 4: who are then willing to actually catch the pass that's
Speaker 4: been thrown from President Trump. And so that's what I'm
Speaker 4: looking to do as governor, is to take that mentality
Speaker 4: of harnessing efficiency, do it to put money in the
Speaker 4: pockets of every Ohio. I want to Hio it to
Speaker 4: be the state of economic excellence. I want to hire
Speaker 4: to be the state of educational life excellence. Would I
Speaker 4: bring down the property tax burden immediately in this state?
Speaker 4: Put money back in the pockets of Ohioans cut the
Speaker 4: red tape and regulation and bureaucratic overreach, so we can
Speaker 4: be the state of energy dominance, manufacturing dominance, AI dominance,
Speaker 4: the state where our kids are actually able to live
Speaker 4: the American dream that seems out of reach for them.
Speaker 4: And I do think getting a lot of the waste
Speaker 4: and fraud and abuse out of the system and putting
Speaker 4: that money back in the pockets of Ohioans is an
Speaker 4: important step to do it.
Speaker 3: That's what I think, Billy.
Speaker 1: You know, I wouldn't note that there's been fourteen or
Speaker 1: fifteen states that have done away completely with the income
Speaker 1: tax state income tax. See Ohioans have about a three
Speaker 1: point five percent at the top rate. I noticed that
Speaker 1: in Indiana, even Democrats voted into the state of Indiana
Speaker 1: next door to eliminate the Indiana state income tax. Would
Speaker 1: your plan be also to eliminate over time the state
Speaker 1: income tax or keep it at a low rate.
Speaker 4: Well, you're taking the line straight out of my speech
Speaker 4: later today, Billy, But yes, we need to we need
Speaker 4: to become a zero income tax state to stay competitive.
Speaker 4: You got people deserve to keep what they earn. And
Speaker 4: as nine other states have already done it, and many
Speaker 4: more are now on a path to do in it.
Speaker 4: It's going to be a requirement for Ohio to be
Speaker 4: competitive as well, and it goes back to them being
Speaker 4: transparent about those expenditures. I also want to make sure
Speaker 4: that every state expenditure, every local county, township expenditure is
Speaker 4: publicly visible, is publicly on a ledger for every Ohioan
Speaker 4: to see. And that is going to bring a whole
Speaker 4: lot of sunlight to a lot of wasteful spending. I
Speaker 4: want us to be the best state in the country
Speaker 4: to be an entrepreneur, to start and grow a new business.
Speaker 4: As you know, I'm not a politician, I'm an entrepreneur
Speaker 4: who has lived the American dream. I want every Ohioan
Speaker 4: to be able to do the same thing. And so yes,
Speaker 4: zero income tax state. Bring down the property tax burden,
Speaker 4: spread and flash and burn every iota of waste, fraud, abuse,
Speaker 4: red tape.
Speaker 3: Or government overreach.
Speaker 4: Let police officers and sheriffs actually do their jobs with
Speaker 4: the proper training needed to do it well. Bring back
Speaker 4: the mental health institutions that actually all otherwise would cause
Speaker 4: our jails to be overrun. All of these save money,
Speaker 4: but they're also about improving effectiveness.
Speaker 1: You know, you touch a sensitive point because when I
Speaker 1: was in the Attorney General's office, I had commitment hearings
Speaker 1: frequently at long View State Mental Hospital, which was in
Speaker 1: the Roselawn area, and I can't there was about five
Speaker 1: hundred to one thousand people locked into that facility that
Speaker 1: are now on the streets homeless and mental health is
Speaker 1: a big issue with many families and Cincinnati the largest
Speaker 1: mental mental health facility is the Hamlet County Justice Center.
Speaker 1: People every county in Ohio as a justice center or
Speaker 1: a jail packed with insane individuals that need mental health services,
Speaker 1: alcohol services, they have drug addicted. That's why we have
Speaker 1: ten cities all over Cincinnati, which is awful.
Speaker 5: And so are you saying that you want to have like.
Speaker 1: State mental hospital maybe in five or six in the
Speaker 1: state that provide services to those that are mentally ill
Speaker 1: like the old system we had before the movie One
Speaker 1: Flew Over the Cuckoos Nast with Jack Nicholson.
Speaker 5: You were too young to remember that.
Speaker 1: But once that movie happened in the nineteen eighties, everything
Speaker 1: changed in America, I think, and every mental hospital was
Speaker 1: cruel and vicious to it to its residents, and that
Speaker 1: is not the case. Longview was a good facility that
Speaker 1: kept those with mental health needs off the streets.
Speaker 5: So what is your plan for mental health?
Speaker 4: That's exactly it, Billiant. This is a controversial issue with
Speaker 4: some on the left, but I think we require a
Speaker 4: governor who has the courage to confront it. Right now,
Speaker 4: the number one source of psychiatric care in the state
Speaker 4: is actually our jails, our prisons. That's unacceptable. Our sheriffs
Speaker 4: will tell you the same thing. Our jails are overrun
Speaker 4: by people who should be in psychiatric institutions, not in jails,
Speaker 4: and that's causing more crime and actually more poverty.
Speaker 3: Even in the cities.
Speaker 4: So you know, the one who flew over the cuckous FtF.
Speaker 4: I have seen the movie, by the way, But a
Speaker 4: lot of that was a type of marketing to get
Speaker 4: people out of these psychiatric institutions where frankly, the pharmaceutical
Speaker 4: companies came out with their first generation of anti psychotic drugs.
Speaker 4: That was one of the drives to be able to
Speaker 4: say there were abuses in the old system, and were
Speaker 4: there some abuses?
Speaker 3: Absolutely there were, and are we going to correct for those?
Speaker 4: We should, We should respect the dignity the basic dignity
Speaker 4: of every human and every American. But I don't think
Speaker 4: it is compassion to then put somebody in jail and
Speaker 4: then let them out, and because they're mentally insane, are
Speaker 4: actually committing more crimes. That's not compassion. That is cruelty
Speaker 4: to everyone involved. And so, yes, it is a touchy subject,
Speaker 4: but I do think we need to bring back psychiatric
Speaker 4: care through the psychiatric institutions that we used to have.
Speaker 3: And Billie, this is the personal issue for me.
Speaker 4: My mom was a geriatric psychiatrist who treated patients often
Speaker 4: with PTSD. She worked in the VA down in Cincinnati.
Speaker 4: And I do believe that we know the truth. We
Speaker 4: just need a leader who stands for that truth. And
Speaker 4: I think it's going to help make every Ohio and better,
Speaker 4: even those who are getting the care that they're not
Speaker 4: getting today. And I hope that unites frankly Republicans and
Speaker 4: Democrats once we have the courage to explain it to them.
Speaker 1: We need a functional mental health facility like the old
Speaker 1: Longview State Mental Hospital. We need it badly because it's
Speaker 1: not kind to someone to live on the streets of
Speaker 1: Cincinnati or Columbus. Secondly, what about the issue of sanctuary cities.
Speaker 1: Cincinnati is a sanctuary city and the mayor here f
Speaker 1: Ted Pirrival, has said that we are a sanctuary city.
Speaker 1: And the police union is fighting with the mayor, saying
Speaker 1: Ken Coober or a sergeant Erey, you know what he says.
Speaker 1: We want ICE partnerships, we want FBI partnerships. What can
Speaker 1: you do as governor to improve that situation about sanctuary cities?
Speaker 4: So, look, that's going to end on my watch. We're
Speaker 4: a nation founded on the rule of law, Billy, and
Speaker 4: I say this as the kid of legal immigrants to
Speaker 4: this country. That means your first act of entering this
Speaker 4: country cannot break the law.
Speaker 3: That is who who we are as Americans.
Speaker 4: And I think it is wrong when governments, including at
Speaker 4: the city level, including at the township level, are sponsoring
Speaker 4: the violation of that rule of law. There will be
Speaker 4: no sanctuary cities in Ohio on my watch. And how
Speaker 4: am I going to take this to the next level.
Speaker 4: It's called two eighty seven G. It's a provision in
Speaker 4: the law that actually allows local law enforcement to partner
Speaker 4: with ICE to be able to remove illegal immigrants. I
Speaker 4: think it's essential, it's essential to carry out President Trump's
Speaker 4: vision there's only several thousand ICE agents at the federal level.
Speaker 4: We need local law enforcement to actually help get that
Speaker 4: job done. And again, I want to do this in
Speaker 4: a way that is compassionate to every Ohioan, but we're
Speaker 4: not being compassionate to our own citizens, to our own
Speaker 4: actual legal residents of this state if our cities are
Speaker 4: overrun with the effects of mass illegal immigration as well.
Speaker 4: And so I think I'm uniquely suited to deliver that
Speaker 4: message as the kid of proud sons of legal immigrants
Speaker 4: to the country where nation founded on the rule of law,
Speaker 4: and Ohio is going to be a state that leads
Speaker 4: the way in enforcing the rule of law because that's
Speaker 4: part of our national identity, it is.
Speaker 3: Part of who we are.
Speaker 4: And I do believe that most islands are on the
Speaker 4: same side of this issue. We're opposed to illegal immigration.
Speaker 4: Part of the solution is we have to end the
Speaker 4: incentives to.
Speaker 3: Be here illegally in the first place.
Speaker 4: And that's why I believe the sanctuary cities need to
Speaker 4: end out with the sanctuary cities and in with two
Speaker 4: to eighty seven g to be able to leverage our
Speaker 4: local law enforcement with the proper training to do what
Speaker 4: so many of them want to do, which is to
Speaker 4: serve our state and serve our country.
Speaker 5: Two or three other quick questions.
Speaker 1: President Trump signed two or three days ago an EO
Speaker 1: and executive order that says that no more federal grants
Speaker 1: to shall we say service organizations to house and clothe
Speaker 1: and feed illegal migrants. Also is going to look at
Speaker 1: the Medicaid payments to those that are here illegally. What
Speaker 1: can a governor do to grossly discourage social welfare agencies
Speaker 1: in the private sector receiving millions of dollars in moneys
Speaker 1: from the taxpayer to house, clothed, and feed of legal
Speaker 1: migrants shouldn't be in the first place. Can you issue
Speaker 1: an executive order from Columbus as the governor saying that
Speaker 1: the state will not pay the expenses of illegals in
Speaker 1: the state of Ohio and won't screen it through these
Speaker 1: social service agencies.
Speaker 4: Absolutely, But we're going to go a lot further than that, Billy.
Speaker 4: I think when we're talking about saving taxpayer money right
Speaker 4: here in Ohio, you've got to spend your taxpayers money
Speaker 4: as though it's your own money. And that's not happening today.
Speaker 4: Creating the incentives for people to break the rule of
Speaker 4: law is going to coust people to break the rule
Speaker 4: of law even more. And I'm not going to do
Speaker 4: that as governor. I refuse to stand by and just
Speaker 4: let that and watch that happen.
Speaker 3: But we're also.
Speaker 4: Going to go further in even saving money in other ways.
Speaker 4: Not only are we going to end every last penny
Speaker 4: going to support illegal immigration. That's of course going to end.
Speaker 4: That's about the rule of law. Now let's talk about
Speaker 4: saving money for Ohioans. We're also going to reattach work
Speaker 4: requirements to medicaid and welfare. Even for people who are
Speaker 4: here legally on what medicaid and welfare, you should at
Speaker 4: least have work requirements attached to that form of government aid.
Speaker 4: I mean, the real point is it's not compassion to
Speaker 4: make somebody dependent on the government.
Speaker 3: That's not compassion. That is cruelty.
Speaker 4: And so what we require is Ohio has been a
Speaker 4: state that sought exemptions from those federal work requirements.
Speaker 3: No longer.
Speaker 4: If you're able body between the ages of eighteen and
Speaker 4: fifty four, you should be able, if you don't have kids,
Speaker 4: to seek a job for at least twenty hours a week.
Speaker 4: That's good for the country. It's good for our state,
Speaker 4: it's good for our budget, but it's also really even
Speaker 4: good for the very Americans who are on the receiving
Speaker 4: end of it, because it provides them a path to
Speaker 4: independence and self sustenance. And that's what we want for
Speaker 4: our fellow brothers and sisters in this country. So that's
Speaker 4: the way I'm looking at it as the next governor.
Speaker 1: Now, lastly, there's a big debate right now in Columbus
Speaker 1: that may be resolved when you get there. The primary
Speaker 1: is about a little over a year away, and that
Speaker 1: is marijuana. We voted in Ohio fifty eight percent of
Speaker 1: us and I don't smoke pot, never have, never will,
Speaker 1: doubt I ever will.
Speaker 5: I won't do it.
Speaker 1: But nonetheless, fifty eight percent of us said, you know,
Speaker 1: recreational marijuana sales is a good thing. We now have
Speaker 1: our good Governor, Mike DeWine wanting to double the tax,
Speaker 1: double the cut into Columbus from ten percent of the
Speaker 1: sale to twenty percent, and then distribute that money all
Speaker 1: over Ohio through a general fund. It's got the cities
Speaker 1: and the townships all worked up because they were promised
Speaker 1: three point six percent and they established these dispensaries, and
Speaker 1: so the people have voted, and now the lawmakers want
Speaker 1: to change the marijuana tax to double the take from
Speaker 1: the state of Ohio. You may know Marijuana Control Commission
Speaker 1: in Ohio says that in twenty twenty five, there's going
Speaker 1: to be a billion dollars in sales of legal recreational
Speaker 1: marijuana that comes out of the pocket some drug dealers.
Speaker 1: The drug dealers this year are not going to get
Speaker 1: one billion dollars in illegal marijuana sales because there's a
Speaker 1: pot of gold there. The state wants to double its
Speaker 1: take from one hundred million dollars in taxes up to
Speaker 1: two hundred million dollars in taxes, which will encourage high prices,
Speaker 1: which will drive marijuana users back into the dark market.
Speaker 1: I know it's a proxial issue at this point and
Speaker 1: may be resolved by the time you get to be
Speaker 1: the governor, but you could change it if Ohio lawmakers
Speaker 1: double the tax on marijuana, encouraging users to go back
Speaker 1: into the dark market. Just philosophically, where do you stand
Speaker 1: on marijuana recreational use and also medicinal Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, look, I'll start with the first principle is that
Speaker 4: this is an issue where we can't have a conflict
Speaker 4: between the state law and the federal law. I go
Speaker 4: back to that same principle I said with respect to
Speaker 4: illegal limitigation. We're a nation founded on the rule of law.
Speaker 4: That is who we are. And so I think this
Speaker 4: business of well is technically illegal federally, but it's quasi
Speaker 4: legal in this state. Just speaking as an American looking
Speaker 4: at the whole country as a whole, that doesn't help
Speaker 4: our culture of the rule of law in this country.
Speaker 4: So the conflict between the federal and the state level
Speaker 4: needs to end. Now let's get to to other deeper
Speaker 4: issues on this. What is the question of medical choice
Speaker 4: for medicinal purposes. I generally believe that there are a
Speaker 4: lot of therapies that need to be able to be
Speaker 4: available for mental health purposes, for the treatment you know,
Speaker 4: you think non addictive options and the opioid epidemic.
Speaker 3: And a lot of what drove that.
Speaker 4: Part of what we need is to bring down the
Speaker 4: barriers to medicinal uses of things that are able to
Speaker 4: help people. But that's different from a deeper problem of addiction.
Speaker 4: And I think this is such a deep problem in
Speaker 4: our state buility. I mean that mental health epidemic is
Speaker 4: something we have not yet taken seriously in addressing depression, anxiety,
Speaker 4: sentinel suicide. These numbers are all up and what is that?
Speaker 4: In our state really and in our country. It is
Speaker 4: part of a deeper crisis of purpose and meaning, especially
Speaker 4: in our young people. You're not getting ahead by smoking
Speaker 4: pot in your parents' basement and somehow playing video games
Speaker 4: and getting a head started the American dream. No, we
Speaker 4: need to bring back that sense of culture and purpose
Speaker 4: and meaning.
Speaker 3: And that's going to be half of my job as
Speaker 3: a governor too.
Speaker 4: Half of the job is the policy, but the other
Speaker 4: half of the job is to set the tone for
Speaker 4: our revival rival of faith in our state, to stand
Speaker 4: for religious freedom in our state, standing for the idea
Speaker 4: of the nuclear family as the greatest form of governance
Speaker 4: known to mankind. By eliminating the disincentives to family formation
Speaker 4: and I hope even living our own life as the
Speaker 4: first family in the state in a way that sets
Speaker 4: an example for young people, that makes family formation cool again,
Speaker 4: that restores that civic vacuum through civic education in our schools,
Speaker 4: that teach kids to be proud of our state and
Speaker 4: our country and of themselves.
Speaker 3: With the pledge of allegiance.
Speaker 4: Every morning, every high school senior who graduates from high
Speaker 4: school in the state should pass a Civics test, the
Speaker 4: same one that legal immigrants have to pass.
Speaker 3: So that's a deeper issue that I care about.
Speaker 4: Is fulfill that crisis a purpose and the rest actually
Speaker 4: falls into place.
Speaker 1: Well, it all starts today. You're in Cincinnati at five o'clock.
Speaker 1: Then at eight pm you'll be in New Albany. And
Speaker 1: tomorrow you'll be in Taledo, where I got my law degree,
Speaker 1: University of Toledo, the home of the Rockets. Than tomorrow
Speaker 1: at four o'clock you'll be in Strongsville, Ohio. The bell
Speaker 1: is a rung and the torch has been lit. It
Speaker 1: has been passed to a new generation of Ohio wins.
Speaker 1: Let's see what you can do with it. The polls
Speaker 1: have you thirty points up. It'd be damn near impossible
Speaker 1: to beat you in the primary. I would anticipate, but
Speaker 1: we'll see what David Yost and others do. But once again,
Speaker 1: but Veke Ramaswami if Sandex High School, thanks for coming
Speaker 1: on the Bill Cunningham Show this Monday afternoon announcing what
Speaker 1: you're going to be doing, and we'll keep the lines
Speaker 1: of communication open and make God bless you and God
Speaker 1: bless America.
Speaker 5: But fake, Thank you very much, thank you, Billy, God
Speaker 5: bless you.
Speaker 1: Let's continue with more your reaction five one, three, seven
Speaker 1: four nine, seven thousand. And then, of course, the weather's
Speaker 1: much greater better this Monday afternoon, and let's see what
Speaker 1: happens later on in the week. But news coming up
Speaker 1: next to Troome of the Reds playing ball now in Goodyear, Arizona,
Speaker 1: all on NewsRadio seven hundred WLW.